Ending This Jonathan Kuminga Saga Once & For All | Locked On Kings

Ending This Jonathan Kuminga Saga Once & For All | Locked On Kings

Kings fans, Warriors fans, lay down your arms. We call a truce. Let’s work together to finally get this Jonathan Kaminga sign and trade done. If there’s anything these fan bases can agree upon is that this saga has played out far too long. Matt George from Locked on Kings, Chuck Walter from Locked On Warriors. Chuck, let’s get a deal done. You are locked on NBA Crossover, part of the Locked On podcast network, your team everyday. Welcome into a crossover edition of both the Locked On Kings and Locked Onriers podcast. This episode is brought to you by Monarch Money. Take control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code locked on NBA at monarchmoney.com for 50% off of your first year. Like I said, I’m Matt George from Locked On Kings. Chuck Walter from the Locked On Warriors podcast, kind enough to join me here as Chuck, we’re going to do our best to put an end to this saga or decide once and for all that this saga needs to end, even if it ends up in a deal not happening. I’ll ask some of my uh my questions from the Kings perspective. Of course, feel free to ask some questions from the Warriors perspective, but we’ll start here. I mean, this this saga has been so played out, and I imagine it feels even more played out from the Warrior perspective, too, right? Because the Kings only got involved this summer. The Kaminga Warrior stuff has been going on for quite some time. Yeah, we’ve been talking about this for years, man. Um, with the two timelines and everything after the championship in 2022, what should the Warriors do? Should they go all in? They get rid of James Weiseman who was supposed to be the the secondary piece along or the main attraction along with Jonathan Kaminga. And now we’re reaching a point to where Joe Lacobs quote that he had back then. We see a life after Steph anchored by James Wiseman and Jonathan Kaminga. That could be one of the worst quotes ever. You could throw it in the Smithsonian. So that kind of leads into my first question and understand of course I know the Warriors audience is probably going to roll their eyes a time or two with some of the questions I ask because I’m coming with the the standpoint of of King’s bias and King’s frustration of why the heck hasn’t this deal gotten done? Are the Warriors being unreasonable? The first question is pretty simple. Do the Warriors even really truly want to get a Kaminga deal done or do you think they’re kind of just toying with the Kings or or playing with this idea when in reality in their mind they’re like, “No, we’re going to bring this into the season and we’re going to hope for something better at the trade deadline. Best case scenario, if the Warriors seriously want to win an NBA championship in these next two seasons and we all know it’s an uphill climb, is it impossible?” You ask a Kings fan, probably. You ask a Warriors fan, we point to 23 and8 last year. You know, 15-1 once Jimmy Butler was infused into the lineup. Uh Pods, Moody, young guys that are probably going to get better. Quinton Post going to get better. Maybe Will Richard pops. That’s a stretch thinking that, you know, one of the last picks in the second round is is a difference maker. But you bring in Al Horford, Dan Anthony Melton, whichever names come in, maybe you can be serviceable and pretty good. But the Jonathan Kaminga signing, if they were to bring him in and somehow be able to convince him that, hey, you’re getting traded. You don’t want to be here long term. We don’t want you in the Bay Area long term. But for us and for you, the best thing is to lock arms right now. Run you early in the season with Jimmy, with Draymond, with Steph. Just showcase what you can do because he’s done it many of times. when when he plays 30 plus minutes in games, he scores 20 plus points. He had back-to-back games last season where he scored 34. But here’s the issue. He got hurt. He was out for 30 games with an ankle injury. While he was out, the Warriors made a trade to bring in Jimmy Butler, who as of now plays the same position as Jonathan Kaminga. And then the Warriors just kept winning games. And they did reinfuse him into the lineup. It was 18 to 20 minutes instead of 25 to 30 like we all thought it was going to be. Did it work out? I mean, he he was playing all right. It wasn’t horrendous in any by any measures, but we got to the point come postseason where Steve Kerr decided to DNP him. I thought it was a strange situation. A few minutes here and there when Butler’s off the floor seems a little bit better than just dingping him all together and going with someone like Kevin Knox if you need him or Ge Santos if you need him. But that’s the stage that we got to and that’s the point where Jonathan Kaminga just feels like there’s no return here. But from the Warriors perspective of holding out and saying no, we’re going to bring him back. It’s because one, they retain the rights. So Kaminga truly can’t do anything else if the Warriors don’t want him to do anything else. And two, maybe it’s the belief somehow someway that it could potentially work because if they got this sign and trade, let’s say it ended at 24 million, not the sign and trade, but the signing at 24 million, two years. Um, the clauses and everything are in there, then you can trade him at the deadline, package him together with, let’s say, Moses Moody, and you’re talking bringing someone back $37 million that um could actually help you win an NBA championship. And if you get him back on the qualifying offer, anything like that, you trade him for Malik Monk. Championship chances probably not. So everything that you’ve been laying out, the circumstance that the Warriors are in, the circumstance that the Warriors put themselves in, this is something that I’ve harped on a lot over the month that this entire saga has been going on, that the circumstance matters. and both the Sacramento Kings and every other team in the league is aware of that exact Warriors circumstance that you laid out there. Plus, Jonathan Kaminga obviously does not want to return. The Warriors do have the leverage or hold the cards in the sense of having the final say. But if their final say is we’re not accepting your offer, we’re just going to bring Jonathan Kaminga back. They still have this mess, this fire that they need to put out at a time where they probably can’t afford too many distractions if they’re focused on one more title window for the Golden State Warriors. So that has been the focus that I have been harping on is the Kings can or do not have to provide the value that Kaminga is worth in a trade because if it was just a straight up like this circumstance wasn’t going on but the Kings wanted Kaminga, he was available. Yes, an unrestricted f or un protected first round pick plus much better than Devin Carter and Dario Sarich or Malik Monk would be the expectation. No ifs, ends or buts about it. But because of the circumstance, that’s where I’m saying the Sacramento Kings can and and and are smart to not be willing to include those pieces or that that final uh treasure or or or circumstance or piece that the the Warriors are asking for to get this trade done. Am I overfocusing and overhyping the the significance of the circumstance or are you in your mind looking at the King situation going, “No, it’s it’s 100% fair what they’re asking for, what they’re trying to do because of what the Warriors have the bed the Warriors have made.” It’s fair in everyone’s part what they’re trying to do in terms of the arm wrestling. They’re in the middle right now and one side’s trying to push it the other way ever so slightly. But when I look at the Kings and hear some of what the fans are saying, well, we don’t have to sign Jonathan Kaminga right now. We can just go get him next year in unrestricted free agency doesn’t necessarily work right. It doesn’t work like that. That there may be other suitors. There may be um financial constraints that come into play. If you can’t get rid of Malik Monk, all these things, they may go elsewhere. So, it’s how much do you believe that Jonathan Kaminga is a game-changing franchise type piece? Cuz he has that sort of talent that if harnessed correctly and if he can figure out the role that he needs to play on certain teams and maybe that role on the Kings, it’s not going to be next year if if nothing changes that ISO ball because they have a lot of players right now that demand the ball in their hands to where it doesn’t necessarily seem like a fit and that’s how he’s kind of fit in with the Warriors. But you see glimpses like in the playoffs, Jimmy’s so smart. He he knows where his teammates should be. He knows where to find them in their spots. And there were moments there in the Wolves series where Kaminga was just cutting. And it was like, oh, cuz when he cuts and gets it with a full head of steam, he’s going to finish around the basket for the most part. Now, when he takes a little too many dribbles, sometimes when there’s a good defender on him, he’ll get it stripped away. His three-point shot leaves a lot to be desired. His mid-range has been semi inconsistent, but when he’s hot, he’s hot and he shows you the ability to really change a game. So, if the Kings want him very badly, and they think this guy, cuz let’s get real, it’s not easy to get top tier talent to Sacramento, right? The best way to maybe do it would be to get a player like Kaminga that’s on the outs that is extremely talented that just doesn’t fit in with the Warriors timeline with the Warriors positioning that’s open and the fact that the Warriors are a fast-pac move off the ball type offense and Jonathan Kinga necessarily doesn’t want to do that. But if that’s all that stands in the way to getting your guy now is unprotecting a pick. I I mean how many picks have the Kings hit on the last 15 years? We go through like the Bagleys of the world. We go through the freaking um who the guy that just got arrested a couple weeks ago. Ben Mackmore. More from Kansas. I mean, the list goes on and on of guys that they’ve they’ve missed out on. So, if you think Kaminga is the dude, you’re going to go after him right now. And that’s the leverage that the Warriors have, but based on everything we’ve heard about the Kings, it’s more like we like him. Well, we’ll take him if he’s there, but maybe we’re not going to build a franchise around him. Well, if anything, we know that a first round pick in Sacramento has more value to the rest of the league because most teams consider that pick will probably be good because the protected top 10, right? Or and then see if they bite or protect it top whatever and then see if they bite top five, which might be what the if there is a final offer that the Sacramento Kings make, that might be the the route that they go. Personally, Chuck, like I I I feel that the Kings have have gone far enough. I think the Warriors expectation of a unprotected first completely in addition to Malik Monk who I understand the final financial ramifications of bringing Monk in. You’re going to have to deal with financial ramifications of resigning Jonathan Kaminga anyway. Um Monk would be the ideal pick out of all or player out of all the packages the Kings have offered certainly to help them actually accomplish their goal of of of trying to win right now. But I’m just in the boat of the Kings don’t have to go any further than this. They understand that Kaminga is an opportunity not anywhere close to a guarantee. And I think Warriors fans know this too because look, we’ve read, we’ve seen the things that the Warriors have said, the concerns that the Warriors have had about the development of Jonathan Kaminga. He might have all the potential in the world. There’s no guarantee or no no close to guarantee that he’s going to meet that potential. So that’s where I and I feel the Kings, at least Scott Perry, is in the same boat of no, we like Jonathan Kamingo. We would love to bring him in. These opportunities don’t come around every once in a while, but we’re not trading for a bonafide established star. We’re trading for someone that we have to ultimately help get there. And we have the cont. It’s not like trading for a player that was just drafted like Ace Bailey for example. It’s not the same thing because that’s a raw prospect that we don’t have any league context on. The league context that we have for Jonathan Kaminga, at least in Golden State, hasn’t been great. He hasn’t he has had flashes. He’s had moments, but he hasn’t been able to reach the potential that the Warriors thought he had uh when they drafted him. So, again, this just all kind of feeds into the power struggle. One thing I want to touch on really quick before we jump over to kind of your thoughts and your questions on from the King’s perspective is I was listening to Locked on Warriors after the latest uh trade proposal dropped and you guys were very high on the idea of Malik Monk and his fit with the Golden State Warriors that your guys’s podcast has been the only kind of area that I’ve seen that kind of response. What makes you guys feel like Malik would be a good piece for the Warriors to get? Because Malik has been on the table since the beginning. Even though the Kings initially offered Dario Sarich and uh uh uh Devin Carter, Malik was available. The Warriors weren’t interested because of Malik’s contract. So, it’s not like Malik is a new development. He’s been on the table. I want to get into this in just a minute. Matt, we we’ll hit the break here and then I want to really ask you some questions about Malik to maybe figure out more of how he would fit into the Warriors just by asking a little bit more detailed about his game and seeing if it’s something that would be able to slide in um and really help this squad be better because that’s all you can do right now. Um NBA championship is what you’re going for, but at the end of the day, you got to be better. and bringing back Jonathan Kaminga on a qualifying offer to where he’s pissed off and the team doesn’t want to play him. That doesn’t make you any better. So, you’re getting to the point, we’re in the dog days of summer, we’re in August, where you got to make a decision. And maybe amongst the guy, you may be able to help me answer that, but I am high on them. So, let’s get into that coming up on Locked on NBA Crossover. 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It’s easy to lose track whether it’s a bunch of different entertainment and streaming services or just a breakdown of how much money we’re spending at certain areas, how much my wife’s target runs are costing, how much both of us are spending at Dutch Bros Coffee, Monarch Money breaks it all down for you, helps you build towards your financial goals, and it’s all in one place. No longer do you have to uh reference your spreadsheets and Excel sheets on your computer or any other apps that you have. Nope. Monarch Money has it all in one place for you to make things as simple and stressfree as possible. Take control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code locked on NBA at monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year. That’s monarchoney.com code locked on NBA for half off your first year. All right, Chuck, let’s talk about Malik Monk. He’s on the table. You seem to have interest in him. How can I help sell them to you further? All right. I like them, man. But it comes down to what the Warriors are doing with the rest of their off season. If Al Horford’s a guarantee, you got a big and you have that room figured out. Um, with Trace Jackson Davis, Quinton Post, Al Horford, you feel okay about it. The Warriors have been very good at protecting the rim analytically despite the fact of not necessarily having a dominant rim protector minus Draymond Green um who’s a lot better than his size would indicate and you have that position set the point guard position with Teran Armstrong maybe not. But if you’re bringing in DA Anthony Melton he’s a secondary ball handler. I also think that’s where Malik Monk could help you out with some secondary ball handling. And then you have Pods as kind of the jailbreak option there. Moses Moody, if you don’t have to get rid of him, slots into a, you know, potential small forward position. The long armed wing there. Jimmy Butler’s a wing. Where else do you have wings? Probably not enough of them right now, but players like Air Coffee are still out there there available to sign. There are other lower level, probably not mid-level, but more bet players that you could grab. And then you just look at what Malik Monk brings to the table in terms of being able to make plays off the bounce. I love the little snake dribble that he has when the ball screen comes to where, you know, he pins the man behind him and either hits that little float game or kind of weaves his way to the bucket or he pulls up from like 10 feet and knocks it down. shooting is kind of the one wild card when it comes to Malik Monk because if he’s a a spot up shooter that can fill a void of Buddy healed and I’m not talking 41% look he’s not buddy healed but if he can get back to some of his better years where he shoots 37 38% from deep then it absolutely makes sense to send out Buddy healed to bring him in you already had to get rid of Jonathan Kaminga anyways most likely best case scenario you’re going to get rid of Kaminga at the deadline you can small lock arms here and you can get a better player. But if you can’t do that, you got to start making moves to some degree. You get the first round pick in there. That’s just the uh cherry on top of the icing on top of the cake. But Monk, the questions that I have to you are defensively because with the Kings, they haven’t been good defensively. They don’t have a bunch of individual defensive stars. The Warriors have Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green. And don’t forget Al Horford, if he’s on the team next year, despite his age, is a good defender. In his best years, he was a damn good AllNBA type defender. He’s still solid. He could still slide his feet and stay with quicker guards. He could still protect the paint. So, you have three plus defenders there. Can Malik Monk hold his own on that side of the ball to where, you know, and he’s got longer arms than than his size would give him credit for, it looks like, just off looking at him. Yeah, I don’t know if I would say he can hold his own necessarily because Malik has never really been known as a defender, but there there weren’t many times, in fact, I can’t even think of a time over the three years that he’s been here where it’s like, oh man, Malik Monk is getting exploited or targeted specifically. That was more Kevin Herder, right? We we were we would watch teams intentionally go after Kevin Herder. Now, the Kings perimeter defense has been bad, period. But that was a problem before Malik Monk was here. And I would argue part of it is just because they’re they don’t have many guys that are 67, 68, 69. Another reason why they would love to have Jonathan Kaminga. So their closeouts on three-point shooters were not great because most of them were like 6’3, 6’4 guys trying to just put their hand up. Malik is not someone that is going to win you any ball games on the defensive end of the floor. But I don’t think Malik, especially if you’re running him out there with two of those three guys or all three of those guys that you mentioned, the drop off defensively of Malik out there with those guys, if you want to use the term he can hide behind them, I guess you could say that if you kind of want to take more of the negative aspect. I don’t think Malik is going to drastically negatively impact the defense, especially with those guys on his team. The Kings never had more than Keegan Murray who did everything and Keon Ellis who is an unders sized guard but does a good job guarding the guard position but has no versatility beyond that and Keegan tried to guard literally everybody one through five. So Sacramento never had kind of the defensive trio or at least as of now duo that the Warriors have that you uh that you laid out there. The thing about Malik that is going to be most I think missed in Sacramento is he’s just a gamechanging I call him Energizer Bunny. Like he just comes into the game and changes momentum or builds upon the momentum that the starter starters established. Malik, it’s hard to judge anything for Malik last season because he went through pretty much four positional changes. He went from his normal six-man role to starting next to De’Arren Fox, which actually worked for a while, to then becoming a primary starting point guard after Fox was traded, and that didn’t work at all, to coming off the bench again at the end of the season. I think coming off the bench in the six-man role is what’s best for him. But he was coming in and running the offense. The during the heyday or when the Kings were playing their best, De’Arren Fox was the first guy subbed out of the game. Mike Brown would take Fox out five, six, seven minutes into the game and Malik would go in and pretty much take over running the offense with the starters for a short period of time before uh Brown would get Fox and Monk back on the floor together and Monk would play a little bit more off ball. He’s more than capable in short to medium windows of handling the point guard responsibilities and handling the basketball whether Steph’s on the floor with him or not. and the energy that he would bring to a second unit, especially and I I we know how loud the Golden One Center gets. We know how loud the Chase Center gets, right? He is someone that can definitely feed off that energy and spark those massive warrior runs that we know that they were famous for uh during those uh those back-to-back or those championship days not too long ago. So, I’m just thinking, man, if um let’s say DeAnthony Melton is your plan starting shooting guard, if he’s healthy, I like DeAnthony Melton as your potential starting shooting guard. he was a season ago, but again, he’s coming off an ACL surgery. That is very, very iffy. Malik Monk would be insurance to that plan. Let’s say it is Melton. Say Horford’s your starting five. We know who one, three, and four are. Then off the bench, you’re talking a lineup of you get Steph Curry some rest. You’re talking about a lineup of Brandon Pajinsky, who’s energy. You’re talking a lineup of Moses Moody, who is energy. You’re talking throwing in Malik Monk at the shooting guard position. And then you got Jimmy Butler in there who can play the four or he can get some rest and Draymond can play the four and Post can come in to stretch the floor as a five. It gives you some options that we know Steve Kerr is going to go into his bag, be the mad scientist and really tinker with the options that he has. It’s about giving him better options to have. And that was the issue a issue a season ago is the options were, hey, let’s go with Pat Spencer here. Let’s go with 15 minutes of Ge Santos because he’s one of the only forwards on the team. And if you get rid of Moses Moody in this trade because you have to make the money work. That’s where it scares me to bring in another guard. But what I ask you is Steve Kerr loves two things. He loves good passers and willing passers because as he says, the pass just breaks down the defense and opens up the offense. That is one of the reasons why he did not love Jonathan Kaminga. You give him the ball and instead of Kaminga processing things very quickly, first thing he’s doing is looking for his own. Whether that’s good or bad, when you’re shooting 50% and putting up 30 points some games, beauties in the eye of the beholder. But for Steve Kerr does not like that. The other thing that he loves is a fast-paced offense and people that move off the ball and create opportunities by movement. Allah Gary Payton, not the most talented player in the world. He’s not getting a shot off, you know, off his own creation. But what he does is he finds his way to the basket. He’s slippery and he gets easy looks. How is Malik in both those regards, passing and moving off the ball? Yeah, Malik is classified as a scoring guard and rightfully so. But second to Deontabon, Malik Monk was the best playmaker on the Sacramento Kings for a number of years. He was the guy his there’s nobody who man game as a guard in Sacramento Monk did over the last including De’arra. Malik had chemistry with bigs and in the pick and roll that Fox was never really able to establish because that wasn’t as so much Fox’s game. Like Malik is capable of getting hot and and starting to to let it fly from three and he certainly will do that. It never felt like I know his what is three-point shooting percentage around like 32% or something from last season. It never felt like it was that bad because when he gets going he really he really can cook. You can say the same thing, of course, about Buddy Heield, but his ability to, I think, run in any kind of twoman game with whether it was Al Horford or or whatever bigs that were out there or uh play off the ball or control um he run well with post in that that pick and pop. Yes, I 100%. I think I mean Malik does not get the credit as a playmaker because he’s not a true point guard. He is a playmaker that can get downhill, can certainly get to the rim. When he gets above the rim, it can get pretty spectacular. Of course, he can pull up from 3-2, but Malik likes to get his teammates involved. And there were many nights where unless Deamont Sabonis was getting a triple double, Malik Monk was leading the Sacramento Kings in assists. Some of the best moments in terms of team basketball that the Kings played and ball movement was when not just when Malik Monk was on the floor, when even with Fox out there, they were playing Fox off the ball and Malik was controlling it. Well, we still got to see if we can get this deal across the finish line, Chuck. And I don’t know how much more I want to budge off of the offer that the Kings put on the table, but we’ll talk ourselves through it and see if we can come to some sort of agreement at least on the Locked On side of things between these two podcasts. That’s coming up in our final segment. Before that though, Locked On Kings and Locked on Warriors is also proudly sponsored by FiveHour Energy. It’s time to fuel up and turn it up with 5Hour Energy Transfusion. And it brings the bold grape, ginger, and lime flavor of your favorite golf drink minus the alcohol into a quick energizing shot. 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That offer is only valid until September 30th on one order and cannot be used with other promotions. The code is not good on subscription orders. Again, that’s promo code locked on golf to receive 20% off of your order. So Chuck, I’m in the position that the offer that the Sacramento Kings most recently put on the table of Malik Monk and a what is a guaranteed first round pick, it’s lottery protected in 2030. If that doesn’t convey, then it becomes either the Kings pick or the San Antonio Spurs pick in 2031. Whichever one is worse. The Kings, who knows how they’ll be at that time. If Victor Winyama’s still around, that Spurs pick will probably not be the greatest. We’ll have to see. It’s five, six years from now. Anything can happen, but it’s guaranteed a firstrounder. A firstrounder and a six-man of the year candidate for a player that doesn’t want to be there. And the Warriors clearly don’t feel is a win now uh or or or a piece that fits with their their win now title window for maximizing Steph Curry. is the financial slot, holding on to him for a financial slot in the hopes of a bigger trade at the trade deadline, is that really plus the distraction, is that really better than that offer that the Sacramento Kings have put on the table? Well, the only thing that we have to go off of is what Shams is saying, what Anthony Slater is saying, what Sam Ach is saying. reports, reports, reports. And then in Instagram that we think we know what the cryptic message is pointing to of Jonathan Kaminga saying, “I’m gonna bet on myself every single time.” Maybe signaling that he would take that qualifying offer. But it was about two months ago at the end of the season where Steve Kerr went on this radio rampage of Jonathan Kaminga where he kind of bashed him, then he would give him a big time compliment, then he would give him a backhanded compliment, and he finished it by saying a couple of things that stand out when I look at this entire process. One was, “We’re going to give him the run early with Jimmy, with Steph, with Draymond Green.” And JK may say, “Well, you told me that for years. I don’t believe you.” Before he got injured, he was getting that run. Once he came back, there was no time for mistakes to happen, anything of that means. Um, it was in fact, hey, we got to win all these games just to avoid a playing tournament. and they won as many as they could. Like I said, 23 and eight and they still were in the playin because everyone is winning. It was good down the stretch in the Western Conference. So that’s kind of number one. He doesn’t believe Steve Cerr when he says these things, but from the Warriors side of view, it’s like why wouldn’t they want to play him the first half of the season to try and build up his value and make it so there could be some sort of a trade at the deadline if they wanted to hold on to him. That’s the only reason why they’d want to hold on to him. The other wrinkle of this is Jonathan Kaminga takes the qualifying offer and all hell breaks loose because at that point the Warriors don’t have to play him. Kaminga, you know, his stock takes a hit at that point because there is the the method of this that I look at to where other teams would see this all go down and they’d say he’s not accepting the Golden State Warriors role in the the final moments of Steph Curry where they won a playoff series a season ago and they’re, you know, bringing in some players that they think can help him kind of compete for an NBA championship and the owner and the the head coach and the GM have all stated that if Steph Curry didn’t get hurt in the playoffs, season ago, they thought they could have won an NBA championship and this is someone that they said you’re going to play early in the season and he doesn’t want to do it. Then, you know, maybe he’s not willing to accept certain roles aside from the role of give me the ball and I’m going to score a ton of points. And does that role really translate to a bunch of the owner’s desires in today’s day and age or the GM’s desires in today’s day and age? We’ll we’ll see what his market would be like if the Warriors just decided not to play him. But I think the qualifying offer is worst case scenario for everyone. The other thing that came from that interview um kind of brigade at the end of the season, the um the interview on wheels where he did it with a bunch of people was he stated that Jonathan Kaminga was going to be around the facilities for the first time in the offseason. he was going to be working out around the Bay Area and he was not going to be in Miami like we’ve currently seen or whatever. And I haven’t I haven’t seen any videos of Kaminga around or heard any reports of Kaminga being around. It seems like he has completely distanced himself from the Warriors brass as of right now. And if he’s distanced himself, he doesn’t have to answer to the the Golden State Warriors in terms of, you know, trying to mend things and in in terms of trying to play nice or whatever. And if if Kerr and Dunley and and Lakeub and whoever is Steph Curry, whoever’s trying to get him on board to kind of buy into their plan of, hey, we’re gonna we’re going to work with you here. We we’ll send you the team that you want to go to. We’re going to make things right. You know, this is why we took out the the player option and put in a team option. It’s so come next year, the team that brings you in can restructure your deal and you can have a long-term deal and we can all live happily ever after. And you know the the thing from the other side that comes in is well why would Jonathan Kamingo want to play ball with the Warriors when they’ve been shafting him out of all these minutes and whatever it may be and maybe it is that disgruntled to the point where this is the way the two sides are thinking. But when I heard Steve Kurr say that he was going to be around the facilities, it made me think at some point that maybe there could be some sort of a sitdown and a mending of this entire thing and figure out what route they can go in that’s best for everyone. But if Kaminga is not around and he doesn’t give the chance to the Warriors to be around, then at some point they got to do what’s best and they have to understand whether he would actually take the qualifying offer. If not, they have to go for a player like Malik Monk and take that deal because he makes you better. And a disgruntled player that does not want to play for your team does not make you better. And in fact, I think Malik Monk’s just better than Jonathan Kaminga right now in general. The the term staring contest has been used, right? And it’s, oh, the Kings and Warriors are having this staring contest over a unprotected first round pick and and the offer that the Kings are putting on the table and the Warriors don’t like it. But from the Kings perspective, there’s a massive staring contest going on between the player in question, Jonathan Kaminga, and the Golden State Warriors organization. So, the Kings is the third party or almost like this is what we’ll put this offer for you or this potential way out for you out on the table and then we’ll sit here and we’ll eat our popcorn like it’s a reality TV show on Love Island or something like that and we’ll let you guys hash it out and ultimately come to a decision. That’s where I don’t think the Sacramento Kings should feel obligated to put any more on the table. Everything you’re not scared by them saying the Warriors and you shouldn’t be, by the way. You’re not scared by them saying we’re shutting down all sign and trade offers. Kaminga is going to be back on this team next year. Doesn’t scare you at all? Not necessarily because look, a lot can change over the course of a year. So, I say make sure to acknowledge that before I say the Kings could just wait till next season because again, a million things could change, not just with Kaminga and the Warriors. A million things could change with the Sacramento Kings and whether or not they’re able to move some of the money in the massive contracts that they’ve got uh that they have to worry about. So, there’s the appeal of, man, we have this opportunity right now to go out and get them. Let’s just go out and get him. And I understand that’s an area that the Warriors are trying to exploit and some Kings fans might feel that way and just go remove the protections. Who cares? Just get the deal done. I totally understand Kings fans who feel that way. Or meet in the middle top 10, see if they budge, you know, something like that. But if I think the Sacramento Kings and Scott Perry, they’ve been pretty consistent throughout this entire process of okay, we’ll make little adjustments because that’s basic negotiating. Yeah, I I figured the Devin Carter Dario Sarich package wasn’t going to excite anybody. When I first reported that, Chuck, I laughed. I thought it was funny like I thought it was like okay this is there this isn’t go but Malik and a lottery protected first that’s guaranteed to be a firstrounder. I think that’s more than a fair and reasonable offer and way out for the Golden State Warriors given their circumstances. It’s not the perfect deal. The perfect deal doesn’t exist. This is a really good option that the Warriors can take. They’re not forced to take and it’s either this or figure it out with Kaminga and and continue the distraction. continue the headache and try and make the best out of the situation. I think the Kings can sit pretty comfortably in their seat knowing we’ve we’ve given them a crossroads. It’s up to them to make the decision. They’re it’s the restricted free agency part. Yeah. And I think it truly comes down to how bad they think it’s gotten and whether there’s any sort of rectifying things with the dubs. Because if there’s not, then I agree with you. you strong arm and if you’re on the the king’s side and you’re in the front office, like why would you give into any more demands? It’s all right, you take him back. He’s taking that qualifying offer. Whether you think it or not, Mike, he he’s that type of dude that’s going to take that qualifying offer. And if he does, the Warriors are screwed. I think Jonathan Kaminga is screwed. He’s going to lose out on a ton of money. And there are fans of this show that love Jonathan Kaminga that say, “No, he’s got enough on tape guarding Anthony Edwards, putting up 30 in the Timberwolve series to where a team’s going to go out there and they’re going to offer him$2 million.” No, they’re not. Because teams out there are smart and they don’t have to offer him that amount of money because his market’s going to go he doesn’t play an entire season and the Warriors like all you tried to screw us like we went 15 and one before you returned last season we don’t need you like see you next off season you know you you go off into the sunset you do your own thing but you’re not going to be playing for us and he doesn’t want to buy in because that’s what they want him to do they want him to buy in to a role that you know, basically says, “Hey, be in the dunker spot more. Crash the glass more. Figure out where you need to be on defense.” That that can probably be tinkered with because at the end of the day, he he plays hard defensively. You can’t get on him about that. But that’s what the Warriors are asking of him. And if he doesn’t want to be in Golden State, you would have to think that he’s not going to improve on that from a season ago. And if he was deemed dnpable a season ago, then he’s definitely dmpable early in the season. And the The counterargument is, well, the Warriors, they they don’t have enough scoring. Like, what what happens when Jimmy Butler goes out for load management nights and and god forbid Curry gets hurt for an extended period of time? Anything like that. What is Melton Pods and and uh Al Horford going to carry the load offensively? And that’s that’s a fair argument to be made on all sides. But as of right now, this this entire thing, it’s it’s just a complete gamble. It’s like putting a putting the thing in the little black on on Rolette. You see it spin and you know if it lands on the double green that’s the qualifying offer in this position. You’re like oh no one wins. Well let’s put a bow on it this way. If if the Kings come back to the table and go okay top 10 protected in 2030 or you get the Kings/Spurs pick in 2031. Whichever one is worse. We got a deal. I like Malik Monk. I’d take the deal, but god the Warriors got to get some positional size somewhere because that’s something they wanted to improve this off seasonason. And if your plan is bringing in Gary Payton, DeAnthony Melton, and Malik Monk to join a crowded guard room, you send your best three-point shooter and Buddy Healed out the door. And then you try to run this thing back and you bring in Seth Curry who’s been rumored, then you’re kind of in trouble. In the wings out there, uh the Ben Simmons of the world, like he doesn’t necessarily excite me. air coffee I think would really clear up some issues, but who knows if he’s on the table. And if you’re getting rid of Kaminga, you no longer have the trade chips really at the deadline. Your best asset if you’re not trading Draymond would be really a a Moody Pods package with maybe some picks trying to get a um pretty solid $20 million player along those lines. So keeping Kaminga and having him even unhappy but just willing to play ball knowing he’s gone at the deadline would give you the flexibility to where if you are the five six seed come trade deadline time you’re good but you’re not great. You now have the ability to maybe package Kaminga and Moody together and next thing you know you’re looking at a $35 million player that can just change the trajectory of everything. And if you don’t have Kaminga then you have Monk. it it makes it a lot harder to do said thing. But um look, you can’t think you got to think one step at a time. You can’t think 10 steps ahead, which is NBA championship. You got to answer the question, how can we get better for this upcoming season? And if it’s between qualifying offer and Malik Monk, come on, Malik Monk. We will see how this entire saga plays out. Hopefully, we’re nearing a resolution because this has just been exhausting for everybody at this point. Locked on Warriors. Chuck will have you focused on the Warriors perspective with whatever happens over there. Of course, we got you with the Kings perspective over on Locked on Kings. Chuck, good luck. We’ll probably see you next season, huh? We’re going to need the luck. Thank you, sir.

Matt George of Locked On Kings & Chuck Walter of Locked On Warriors come together to discuss both sides of the Sacramento Kings, Golden State Warriors, Jonathan Kuminga negotiations.

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Ending This Jonathan Kuminga Saga Once & For All
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